St. Dunstan of Canterbury

Son of Heorstan, a Wessex nobleman. Nephew of Saint Athelm, and related to Saint Alphege of Winchester. Educated at Glastonbury Abbey by Irish monks. Hermit. Monk. Expert goldsmith, metal-worker, and harpist. Ordained by Saint Alphege. Appointed abbot of Glastonbury in 944 by King Edmund I of England. He rebuilt the abbey, introduced the Benedictine Rule, and established a famous school. Close advisor to King Eadred and King Eadgar. Bishop of Worcester, England, and of London, England. Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 960. The combination of spiritual authority and political influence made him the virtual regent of the kingdom. Spiritual director of Saint Wulsin of Sherborne. Reformed church life in 10th century England. Advisor to King Edwy until he commented on the king‘s profligate sexual ways – which caused the bishop to be exiled. In 978, with the acension of King Ethelred the Unready, he retired from political life to Canterbury. Had the gift of prophecy.

Born

* 909 at Baltonsborough, Glastonbury, England

Died

* 988 at Canterbury, England of natural causes
* buried in Canterbury
* his burial site was lost for years, but rediscovered by Archbishop Washam
* relics destroyed during the Reformation

* gold cup
* horseshoe
* man holding a pair of smith‘s tongs
* man putting a horseshoe on the devil‘s cloven foot
* man with a dove hovering near him
* man with a troop of angels before him
* man working with gold or metal, usually in a monastery or cloister, sometimes with an angel speaking to him
* metal working tools
* pincers